[Question #2684] Herpes infection scare

95 months ago

Hi,

I had protected oral and vaginal sex with a new partner around 8 days ago. There was some unprotected oral , in terms of her sucking my testes 2-3 times.The entire sex episode lasted for around 2 minutes. 1 day post exposure, I felt slight fever and 3 days post exposure, I observed red bumps on my penis head. I did not notice any fluid inside them, but they appeared clustered in group of 2-3, similar to herpes lesions. One of them was very small single whitehead, which turned redder later. Now it has been 5 days since appearance of bumps, I have observed couple new ones, but no itching or liquid inside them. When I try to poke them with a q-tip, it doesn't seem to hurt. Few bumps have started healing and I see dark red spots now. A GP took a swab test and prescribed anti-fungal cream for time being. I have been observing slight fever intermittently for past few days and am very concerned if I contracted Gential Herpes by this encounter.

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

95 months ago

Have you ever in your life had a cold sore on you lip or in your nose? If yes, then you already have HSV 1 infection, and that is the type you would be most at risk of by receiving oral sex. But you mentioned that most of that was protected, so I feel your risk is very low here already, given your very good job of using condoms. Is the antifungal medicine improving the spots? Are you circumcised or not? Please let me know the results of your swab test when you can, OK? I think there is very little risk of the intercourse that was condom protected.

Terri
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95 months ago

Thank you so much, Terri. I have never had a cold sore earlier, so I am unsure of my HSV1 status. I feel that the spots have improved after the anti-fungal medicine. Few of them are almost healed, but I still see dark red spots there. I am worried as to why I saw a few new ones after the first occurrence. I am uncircumcised. Sure, I will post the swab test results as soon as I get them. I am anxiously waiting for them. Do you think they might be accurate, given there was no fluid? In one case, I almost scraped over the entire bump with the swab but did not find anything inside or beneath it.

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

95 months ago

As long as the bumps were swabbed completely, the results should be accurate. You didn't take any antiviral medicine before swabbing, did you?
Look up candida balanitis and see if it looks anything like what you have,OK?

Terri
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95 months ago

Thanks. No,I have not taken any anti-viral medicine till date. What I have does resemble few candida balanitis pics I see online. But my entire penis head is not red, just the spots and a small portion of the foreskin. Can Herpes cause intermittent mild fever? I haven't taken anything for the fever also, since I wanted to see how my body reacts naturally.

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

95 months ago

candida balanitis only involves the head of the penis though fungal infection can cause "stripes" on the penis as well, if the penis is in contact with the walls of the vagina inhabited with yeast. Taking antiviral medicine can impact antibody testing if you were thinking about doing that. Men who still have a foreskin are more likely to acquire candida balanitis as the covered penis head is warm and dark and moist, the ideal atmosphere for fungal growth. Herpes can cause a fever with new infection yes, as can all sorts of other conditions. I think it's fine to take medicine to reduce your fever if you wish.

Terri
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